Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda Been a Cub

Today the Cubs cut ties with their projected back up catcher, George Kottaras.  They had acquired from Milwaukee in a cash deal this past January.

Even though he had a rough spring, he was thought to have a secure roster spot.  Its even more of a surprise since there was also some speculated trade interest from Texas.

Since he was released before he could make a regular season appearance, he does not appear on the official Cubs All-Time Roster and thus has been released from my collection as well.  Sorry George, you almost made it. Now he joins my discard pile, along with Daniel Bard, Omar Infante, Garrett Wolfe and all the other near misses.

It's assumed that the Cubs will use his roster spot to call up his replacement, NRI John Baker.  So, I get to add him to my binder at least!

In other news, Donnie Murphy's Cubs career is officially over; he was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers earlier today.  But, since he obviously appeared as a Cub during the 2013 season, his spot in my collection is safe forever.

What this likely means though is that Mike Olt will go north with the team as the starting third baseman and that Emilio Bonifacio will be added to the roster as a super sub.  Welcome to my binder guys!

So, in summation, I was forced to remove George Kottaras from my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection, but I also likely get to add John Baker, Emilio Bonifacio and Mike Olt.